Blue Manchu's strategic, rogue-like first-person shooter Void Bastards was revealed to be coming to the PlayStation 4 at the tail end of 2019 thanks to an early listing by the Pan European Game Information rating board (PEGI).
Nothing about its impending release has been revealed by the independent game developer since, but a new rating uploaded by the Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) this weekend suggests it is still coming alongside a release on the Nintendo Switch.
The ESRB gave Void Bastards an "M" for Mature, citing blood, strong language, and violence, but does not provide a more fleshed out summary of why it decided on that rating. However, the American video game review board does explicitly say the game will be available for the Nintendo Switch, Sony's PlayStation 4, and Microsoft's Xbox One even though it is only currently available on PC and Xbox.
The BioShock-inspired deep space rogue-like FPS was published through the digital storefront Humble Bundle in May 2019, and given a "16" on its PEGI rating for "use of strong language and encouragement of gambling." That leak coincided with the reveal that Metro Redux would be coming to the Nintendo Switch, which it did on February 28, 2020.
In Void Bastards, which was created by people who had previously worked on 2K Games' acclaimed BioShock franchise, players take on the role of a gang leader aboard a prison ship drifting through space that needs to bring their crew to safety. The game was well received upon its initial release, and went on to have a free update and DLC in September 2019.
The timing of its leaked rating through the ESRB seems suspiciously well-timed. Nintendo just announced it will be hosting an Indie World Showcase Direct tomorrow via Twitter, and while correlation is not causation, it is likely fans of the indie title can expect to see it being showcased as one of the announcements.
Nintendo's latest hybrid console has been a powerhouse for independent games since it released in 2017. Titles like the Resident Evil-inspired horror game Heaven Dust are announced for the Switch seemingly every day, and players will be seeing a whole host of them during Nintendo's Direct tomorrow. The world will have to wait and see whether Void Bastards is among them.
Void Bastards is available now for Steam and Xbox One.
Source: ESRB